Federal File

Something to say

Even as his voice was giving out last week, President Clinton
continued to urge Congress to find money for his priorities.

Mr. Clinton, who has suffered from hoarseness on several occasions
during his two terms, was still recovering from a recent bout of
laryngitis when he stopped at a middle school in New Orleans on Sept.
27. The president used the visit to highlight several of his
priorities, including money for school modernization, new teachers,
technology, and after-school programs.

"We have to demand more of our schools and invest more in them," he
told an audience at Sophie B. Wright Junior High School, an inner-city
school with dilapidated facilities and low academic achievement. "And
we know these schools can be turned around if they have the resources
and a good plan and they work the plan."

After an extensive physical exam on Sept. 25, doctors had advised
Mr. Clinton to rest his voice for 10 days to help ease his swollen
vocal cords. But with a packed schedule of appearances, Mr. Clinton
found that advice impossible to follow.

"The president is concerned about his hoarseness and his ability to
make the fine speeches he makes around the country," said his press
secretary, Joe Lockhart. "We're going to do our best to make sure we
get him the rest he needs."

On the same day the president visited New Orleans, first lady
Hillary Rodham Clinton was in New York City sounding the same cry for
school construction aid. The likely candidate for the U.S. Senate from
New York joined union leaders and Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., at an
overcrowded school in Harlem.

Still, the Clintons' spending ideas did not go over well with
Republicans, who sharply criticized the president's veto of a $792
billion gop tax-cut plan the week earlier.

New role for Green

Julie Green, who had served as Secretary of Education Richard W.
Riley's spokeswoman for more than two years, has given up that job to
become the deputy communications director for Vice President Al
Gore.

Ms. Green left the higher-profile press secretary's post Sept. 3 for
a more behind-the-scenes job crafting the communications strategy in
the vice president's office.

Her replacement had not been named as of last week, according to the
Department of Education.